Labour & Social Security Minister Hosts Cayman Delegation
Public Relations Unit
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Tel: (876) 967-5484
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Friday, August 12, 2022
Labour & Social Security Minister Hosts Cayman Delegation
Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Karl Samuda, today hosted a delegation from the Cayman Islands at his North Street office. The delegation was led by Hon. Christopher Saunders, deputy Premier and Minister of Border Control and Labour. The Deputy Premier was accompanied by Hon. Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism and Transport, Mr. Vinton Chinsee, Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Wesley Howell, Chief Officer, UK Passport.
Minister Samuda expressed pleasure in welcoming the delegation, noting that the Caribbean is a melting pot of races and cultures which share a common core of heritage and lifestyles. For his part, Minister Saunders congratulated Jamaica on the quality of talent which the island continues to export, noting that the Jamaicans accounted for the second largest population in Cayman, second only in numbers to Caymanians.
Minister Samuda, who was accompanied by Chief Technical Director, Mrs. Dionne Jennings, engaged the delegation in discussions on the systems used to grant Work Permits in Jamaica, noting that as much as 57% of Cayman’s labour force is imported. Minister Samuda disclosed that approximately 5,000 persons are currently in Jamaica on Work Permits, representing 0.4% of the employed labour force. The Minister emphasized the fact that a Jamaican Work Permit is not a Permanent Visa, and explained that one condition of granting Work Permits is that the employer must ensure that Jamaicans benefit from training by the immigrant team, as a means of building capacity in the Jamaican workforce, thereby reducing the need to continue to import skilled labour in those fields.
Further discussions are to be held with the Cayman team, which has also expressed an interest in replicating Jamaica’s HEART Trust NSTA, as a means of building Cayman’s pool of local persons certified in Vocational Skills.
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